Steve Thomas

James, Below is a composit photograph. Le man on the right is supposed to be a photograph of Jean Souetre. The picture on the left is a picture in the Dallas Police Department of the alleged assassination rifle. Behind the rifle, leaning up against the wall is what appears to be a police artist's sketch of someone. To me, the two pictures look remarkably similar. <img src="http://members.sigecom.net/s1thomas/souetre1.jpg" /> Steve Thomas

Lewis McWillie told the HSCA that he visited some people in Trescornia in Cuba. Chairman STOKES. Can you give us the names of some of the people who were detained? Mr. MCWILLIE. In this prison? Chairman STOKES. Yes, sir. Mr. McWILLIE. Well, Trafficante was in there, Jake Lansky, Dino Cellini, and a fellow named Guiseppe De George. He was also asked if the following people were in that prison: Chairman STOKES. Was someone in that prison by the name of Charles Tourine? Mr. McWILLIE. Who? Chairman STOKES. Charles Tourine? Mr. McWILLIE. No; I don't know. Chairman STOKES. You don't know anybody by that name? How about Charles Del Monico? Mr. McWILLIE. Del Monico? Chairman STOKES. Del Monico? Mr. MCWILLIE. No. Chairman STOKES. Lucian Rivard? Mr. McWILLIE. Not that I know of. Chairman STOKES. How about Henry Savadra? Mr. MCWILLIE. No. Does anyone know how to get a list of the people imprisoned with Santos Trafficante? I thought I read the other day that one of the people Jack Ruby visited in Cuba was Sam Termine - which, if true, would be very interesting in that Sam Termine was a very good friend of Marguerite Oswald. I also wondered about the possibility of Jack Ruby knowing Charles "Dutz" Murrett, Oswald's uncle. Steve Thomas

Lawrence, I am of the opinion that after the Tippit shooting, Oswald headed for the Library at Jefferson and Marsalis. When he saw or heard the commotion of the police cars heading for the Library, he doubled back. There is also Warren Burroughs who told somebody he sold popcorn to Oswald shortly after the start of the movie at 1:00 PM. Steve Thomas

Simone, You might find it helpful to read the letters that John F. Kennedy exchanged with Nikita Kruschev. You can read them here: http://www.state.gov/www/about_state/histo.../exchanges.html Steve Thomas

John, The DIA is the Defense Intelligence Agency. They are part of the Department of Defense. Steve Thomas

Go to the East Dallas page and scroll down to the Garland airport. Dallas Garland Airport had a strange moment in the spotlight as part of the mysterious events surrounding the assassination of President Kennedy in Dallas. Robert Plumlee (who had piloted clandestine flights for the CIA for over 31 years) testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1990 & 1991. Plumlee testified that on November 22, 1963, he was a co-pilot on a top secret flight supported by the CIA. The flight carried Philippe Socko (a known Mafia/CIA double operative) from Florida to Dallas, and that their assignment was to stop the assassination attempt on Kennedy's life. Plumlee stated that Roselli departed the plane at Dallas Garland Airport on the morning of November 22. The author of the article wrote, "According to Gary Walker, his father continued as the airport operator "until his death in late 1966. At that point, my Mother inherited the operation, which she ran up until about 1969-1970." Steve Thomas

John, How do you know this? Is his story online somewhere? Steve Thomas

These would be the Guerini brothers? Paul Mondolini from Montreal was Antoine Guerini's adopted son. http://spot.acorn.net/jfkplace/09/fp.back_...Issue/misc.html What follows are some notes on Rivele's published account of the alleged Corsican connection to the Kennedy assassination. Rivele's book was published in French; what we now publish are a university professor's notes on what he had read. p. 75 "...Trafficante maintained close ties with Antoine Guerini via a Corsican criminal based in Havana named Paul Mondoloni....Educated, multilingual, courteous and dignified in appearance, he seemed to belong more to the diplomatic corps than to the bloody Marseilles hampa.(Mafia)" [He then moved to Montreal after leaving Cuba]. Steve Rivele: 163: I asked him some of Jim Lesar's questions. I asked if David knew whether Antoine Guerini had participated in the CIA conspiracies to assassinate Fidel Castro. To my surprise, he told me that Guerini was involved. "I believe that the intermediary was Paul Mondoloni," he said. Mondoloni used to spend a lot of time in the US." It is also worth noting that U.S. Army Pfc. Eugene Dinkin, who claimed to have advance knowledge of the JFK assassination (he was diagnosed by the Army as having a mental condition called "schizo-assassination prognostication") presumably learned of the JFK plot through his work as a military code breaker in France. Steve Thomas

Tim, The capitol of Kentucky is Frankfort. Steve Thomas

According to the Lopez Report (History Matters Archive - http://history-matters.com/archive/jfk/hsc...ezRpt_0091a.htm p. 91) On Tuesday, October 1, 1963 at 10:45 AM, a man identifying himself as Lee Oswald phoned the Soviet Consulate in Mexico City. He said that he had visited the Soviet Consulate the previous Saturday and had spoken with the Consul. "Oswald added that the Consul had stated that they would send a telegram to Washington and he wanted to know if they had received an answer." The Russians put "Oswald" on hold and checked. "When Obyedkov resumed the conversation, he stated that the Soviet Consul had not yet received an answer, but the request had been sent." On the previous Saturday, this American had been to the Soviet Consulate and was told that the process of getting a visa normally took four to five months because the Washington Consulate had to get permission from the USSR. If "Oswald" had been told three days earlier that the process took four to five months, why was he anxiously awaiting an telegram on Tuesday. What was being telegrammed and does anyone know what the Russian answer ultimately was? Steve Thomas

I spent some time researching Souetre, but I didn't get very far. "(Release date: May 13, 2004. The Strength of the Wolf: The Secret History of America's War on Drugs by Douglas Valentine. London: Verso Press, 2004. ISBN: 1-85984-568-1) Consider, if you will, the JFK assassination in some ways rebounding off of the so-called French Connection. To most people, their idea of the French Connection is based upon the film, starring Gene Hackman. The film is based on a real case, handled by the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN), however Valentine suggests that the French Connection case had ramifications far deeper than shown in the movie. One tangent of the French Connection involves former French colony Algeria. French president Charles DeGaulle collided with the Organization de l'Armee Secrete (OAS), which wanted to maintain French rule in Algeria. A complex series of offshoots, painstakingly detailed by Valentine in The Strength of the Wolf, branched into the July 1961 assassination plots against DeGaulle. Reportedly, the attempted overthrow by coup d'etat of French president DeGaulle was partly financed by about $200,000 in secret funds handled by none other than Permindex. (Recall that Clay Shaw was reportedly an employee of Permindex.) Also connecting with the Organization de l'Armee Secrete (OAS) was former FBI agent Guy Banister, who reportedly sent the OAS $200,000 in 1962. That money allegedly went to Jean Rene Marie Souetre of the OAS. In early 1963, Monsieur Souetre had a sequence of clandestine meetings with, respectively, E. Howard Hunt, far-right General Edwin Walker, and Guy Banister. Souetre and unnamed Corsican assassins are shown by Valentine to have been the probable actual killers of John Kennedy. Corsican drug smugglers used as assassins were reportedly favored over U.S. Mafiosi due to ongoing Project Luciano-type entanglements between them and the CIA." From William Harvey’s handwritten notes on setting up the ZR/Rifle Program From ajweberman’s Coup d’etat in America Nodule 0 http://www.weberman.com/nodules/nodule0.htm 8. Use nobody who has never dealt with criminals; otherwise will not be aware of pitfalls or consider factors such as freedom to travel, wanted lists, etc. Exclude organization criminals, those with record of arrests, those who have engaged in several types of crime. Corsicans recommended. Sicilians lead to Mafia. Souetre reportedledy met with E. Howard Hunt in Madrid to get CIA backing for the OAS. I belive the CIA turned them down. From another 1998 posting by Stephane Risset: "for you information, Jean Souetre was not in Dallas on 22/11/63, he was in jail in Oran ( algerie ), I met sou tre 2 years ago, he is not corsican, and a gangster, he his military man, back in 1961/2 he was under the order Salan/Jouhaud ( top general in alger) later it became an O.A.S men under the direction of pierre Sergant, and after so tre took the O.A.S direction for the spain. Soutre was a specialist of terrorism, and anti-terrorism, he belonged a commando now : delta ( service action de l'O.A.S ) but the thing his this: Soutre was a friend of Michel Merzt ( died in july 1997) Merzt was military men, working for the nazi in second war.after the war, he became a spy and a gangster very dangerous,in the event of alger and O.A.S matter Merzt infiltrate the O.A.S organisation, for the french secret service. there are lots of physicals apparence between the 2 guys. Soutre tell me that it was Merzt who was in Dallas,with his passports. i see lot of document belong to Soutre, I think there is no doute that Soutre was not involving in Dallas, I can't says the same thing for Merzt. Merzt was a very dangerous person,with lot of murderer, it was also involving in drug traffic knowing at the name of " FRENCH CONNECTION " back 1970/76. for a long time ago I was very concern about this connection. Lucien Sarti died in 1973 in Mexico city. if you want more details tell me what do you about him? Stephane" Searches in the NARA database reveal about a dozen of these kind of entries: AGENCY INFORMATION AGENCY : FBI RECORD NUMBER : 124-10224-10058 RECORDS SERIES : HQ AGENCY FILE NUMBER : 105-128529-1 DOCUMENT INFORMATION ORIGINATOR : FBI FROM : LEG, PA TO : DIRECTOR, FBI TITLE : [No Title] DATE : 03/04/1964 PAGES : 1 DOCUMENT TYPE : PAPER, TEXTUAL DOCUMENT SUBJECTS : [RESTRICTED] CLASSIFICATION : CONFIDENTIAL RESTRICTIONS : 1C; 4 CURRENT STATUS : RELEASED WITH DELETIONS DATE OF LAST REVIEW : 04/09/1996 OPENING CRITERIA : INDEFINITE Steve Thomas

James, For what it's worth, here is a 1998 posting from someone named Stephane Risset in the alt.conspiracy.jfk newsgroup. English is obviously not this person's native tongue. From: Stéphane RISSET (risset.@club-internet.fr) Subject: Re: Were Souetre & Sarti on FBI List? View this article only Newsgroups: alt.conspiracy.jfk Date: 1998/05/09 vern I'm not familiar of twyman's book,I'm going to find it, if you give me the reference and dates. I don't now the circonstance of the Sarti's death, but the writer Steven Rivele, I think now litlle more about Sarti. regarding Merzt's matter,is very difficult to have somes details, I have somes official record of the French army and from the D.S.T ( direction de la surete du territoire ) (counter-intelligence service). 3 years ago I try to see Mezrt, in his castle, but without a single sucess, after his death ( long suffer diceasse) I phone to his son, he told me that he would't not make any statement. May be you already now Merzt was married to the girl of the mob Canadian Martel after the war. despite this fact he was the protoge of alexsandro Sanguinnetti ( high ranking of the french governement under De Gaulle.). I met one reseacher, who work on O.A.S files. I toll me something interesting but wihtout any proof. yes, Merzt was in Dallas on the day of the assassination, for one counter-operation regarding the attempt on De Gaulle life, when he official visit in Mexico city, made by the O.A.S. but we have no official documents for that version. if you have some specifikly question, may be i can help you stephane. Steve Thomas

I wrote the author of this posting and he replied with the following concerning his mother: "She described the men as both of Spanish or Cuban extraction. At that time she had had little interplay with either nationality. Many years later she worked for the Immigration Dept. and felt that in retrospect that they were more than likely Cuban. The car was a Ford, 4 door Station Wagon with Texas license.(Cream colored) She wrote the license number down and gave it to Mr. Truly." This is from the WC testimony of S.M. Holland - signal supervisor of the Union Terminal Railroad, who was working on the railroad overpass: Mr. HOLLAND - Well, the only thing that I remember now that I didn't then, I remember about the third car down from this fence, there was a station wagon backed up toward the fence, about the third car down, and a spot, I'd say 3 foot by 2 foot, looked to me like somebody had been standing there for a long period. I guess if you could count them about a hundred foottracks in that little spot, and also mud upon the bumper of that station wagon. Mr. HOLLAND - It was muddy, and you could have if you could have counted them, I imagine it would have been a hundred tracks just in that one location. It was just---- Mr. STERN - And then you saw some mud on the bumper? Mr. HOLLAND - Mud on the bumper in two spots. Mr. STERN - As if someone had cleaned his foot, or--- Mr. HOLLAND - Well, as if someone had cleaned their foot, or stood up on the bumper to see over the fence. What kind of car did Jack Lawrence borrow? from Mike Griffith. "Compelling Evidence." http://karws.gso.uri.edu/JFK/the_critics/g...from_front.html Jack Lawrence and His Borrowed Car About a month before the assassination, a man named Jack Lawrence was hired at Downtown Lincoln-Mercury, a Dallas car dealership that was only two blocks from Dealey Plaza. Lawrence got the job by providing job references from New Orleans. These references were later found to be phony. Lawrence was known as an ardent right-wing speaker, and reportedly had been an expert marksmen in the military. The night before the assassination, Lawrence borrowed a car from the dealership, saying he needed it for a date. Lawrence did not show up for work in the morning. However, thirty minutes after the shooting, he came hurrying through the company's show room. He was pale and sweating and had mud on his clothes. He rushed into the men's room and threw up. He claimed he had been ill, and that he had tried to return the car but was forced to park it because of traffic. His co-workers became suspicious and called the police. Later, the car Lawrence had borrowed was found--it was discovered in the parking lot behind the wooden fence on the grassy knoll (Marrs 339-340; Groden and Livingstone 133-134). Steve Thomas

John, I think you should get rid of the wallpaper in the Forum. You can't read the list of the topics. Steve Thomas

Larry, Yes, I was very dissapointed not to find her name in the DPD Archives index. Her son said that she had been "interviewed" by the DPD, but I guess that didn't include swearing out a notarized statement. I would ask everyone to keep your eyes peeled in photographs taken behind the grassy knoll and see if you spot a cream colored 4-door Ford station wagon. Steve Thomas

Don, According to Mary Ferrell's database, Vida Lee Whatley's signed statement is at CE 1381 That is 22H680 http://history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/...Vol22_0355b.htm In her statement, there is no mention of the Cubans or station wagon. Steve Thomas

Lee, I asked Jim Conner what his mother's name was in 1963. He wrote me back and said, "Her name then was Vida Lee Whatley and she worked for Lyons and Carnahan Purlishing." Mrs. Whatley is mentioned by name in the WC testimony of Geneva Hine (6H396) Mr. Ball. Steps lead down? Miss HINE. Yes, sir; but there is a door before the steps and the elevator is to my left and I went past the hall that goes to my right and I knocked on the door of Lyons and Carnahan; that's a publishing company. Mr. Ball. What did you do then? Miss HINE. I tried the door, sir, and it was locked and I couldn't get in and I called, "Me, please let me in," because she's the girl that had that office, Mrs. Lee Watley, and she didn't answer. I don't know if she was there or not, then I left her door. I retraced my steps back to where the hall turns to my left and went down it to Southwestern Publishing Co.'s door and I tried their door and the reason for this was because those windows face out. Steve Thomas

Ron, Wilbyrn Litchfield testified before the Warren Commission on April 16, 1964. (14H95). In his police affidavit of December 2nd, he had spoken of a man he thought looked like Oswald wearing a V-necked white sweater in the Carousel. In his WC testimony, he was shown a picture of photographer Eddie Rocco (Armstrong exhibit 5302 in 19H36) and asked if that man looked the man he saw, whom he thought looked like Oswald. Litchfield said no. If the interrogator has gone two pictures over, Litchfield might have had more to say. William Crowe aka Bill DeMar testified on June 2, 1964 (15H96) that he had told people on Sunday November 24th that he had seen a man in the Carousel a week before the assassination that he thought looked like Oswald, who had been in the first row, and whom he had used in his memory act. Crowe was shown a series of pictures that the interrogator referred to as Crafard exhibits 5205, 5206, 5212 and 5221, but were actually a series of Armstrong exhibits 5303 I through M (19H36 +) Crowe was asked if the man up on the stage in 5303 J (19H37) looked like the man he thought was Oswald. Crowe said no. Crowe was asked if the man in 5303 K (19H38) with his side facing the camera and not smiling looked like the man he thought was Oswald. Crowe said no. Take a look at 5303 J (19H37) and 5303 K (19H38) and see if you don't see a man in a white V-necked white sweater. These pictures were apparently taken in the Carousel in the first week of November, right when Litchfield said he was there. Steve Thomas

I posted this on Lancer, but nobody seemed very interested. This was posted on the Dallas Historical Society forum last week by a man named Jim Conner, who said that his mother, sister and brother-in-law worked at the TSBD. He said his brother-in-law was Billie Lovelady: http://www.dallashistory.org/cgi-bin/webbb...g.pl?read=30530 Re: My Dad was a Dallas Police Officer Posted By: jim conner <pyrpinz@aol.com> Date: Wednesday, 25 May 2005, at 2:51 p.m. In Response To: Re: My Dad was a Dallas Police Officer (gene morris) "Dear Gene: After the incident, everyone at TSB was interviewed. My mother's story then and now has stayed the same. Her parking space was just behind the fence at the grassy knoll. When she arrived for work that morning, she confronted several men in a car parked in her parking spot. Being the fiesty, Scotch-Irish she was, she told them they were not supposed to be parking there. They ignored her and continued to involve themselves in removing packages from the trunk of their car. Packages she described as could have contained rifles. She went inside and reported the incident to the manager of TSB Mr. Truly. Throughout the rest of the day no mention was made of the incident and when interviewed by DPD she told the same story. There was no SS followup, nor was FBI interested. They were much more interested in holding Billie Lovelady for three days. Finally when a photograph of the front steps of TSB, showing Billie and most of the crew, surfaced, they figured he could not have been in two places at the same time. For years after that they still pestered him, just certain that he was involved in some way." I emailed Jim Conner and asked him if his mother ever told him what kind of car the men were in and if she had ever described the men. So far, Mr. Conner hasn't answered me. Steve Thomas

Greg, I don't have the transcript in front of me, but apparently on October 13, 1972, H.R. Halderman told Richard Nixon that Mark Felt was the source of many, if not most of the leaks in the Watergate case. I think RN and HRH knew as far back as October of 1972 who Deep Throat was. Steve Thomas

Edward McBee was interviewed by the FBI on December 19, 1963. At that time he was a bartender working in several nightclubs in the Dallas area. He told the FBI that he was the bartender at the Carousel Club when it opened. 23H110-111 CE 1635. http://history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/...Vol23_0071b.htm He told the FBI that he had last seen Jack Ruby in September or October, 1963 and that he knew of no connection between Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby. However; in the HSCA Executive Transcripts of March 9, 1977 - p. 50 in the online version, p. 44 in the print version: http://history-matters.com/archive/jfk/hsc...-9-77_0050a.htm Robert Tannenbaum told the HSCA that Edward McBee was recovering from cancer and that he had told another individual that approximately eleven (11) days prior to JFK's assassination, there was a meeting in the Club where he worked. Persons attending this meeting were Lee Harvey Oswald, Jack Ruby, Guy Bannister, Emilio Santana and four or five other individuals from New Orleans and Mexico City. McBee supposedly positively identified a photograph of Guy Bannister. On page 52, Tannenbaum said that McBee told this to researcher Gary Shaw. Approximately eleven days before the assissination would be around November 11th. Has anyone heard of this meeting before, and does anyone know enough about the schedules for LHO and Jack Ruby that could conceivably place them at such a meeting or rule it out altogether? PS: the party that McBee describes for the FBI sounds an awful lot like the parties Pixie Lynn descibed to Travis Benkendorfer: DPD Archives, Box 18, Folder# 11, Item# 3 http://jfk.ci.dallas.tx.us/box18.htm Steve Thomas

Lee, I never thought much about it, but what postal employee is available for questioning at 5:00 in the morning? A janitor? Steve Thomas

James, It's a shame the picture is in black and white, if it was in color, I might be able to help a little based on the color of the man's lapel pin. The plainclothes Dallas Police were assigned beige pins. DPD Archives, Box 1, Folder# 3, Item# 15 http://jfk.ci.dallas.tx.us/box1.htm Steve Thomas

Mark, Assistant Chief of Police Charles Batchelor produced a roster for the WC. You can find it at 19h117 here: http://history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/...Vol19_0068a.htm Captain Purdue Lawrence produced a traffic and security detail assignment list for Chief Curry and you can find it in 20h489 here: http://history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/...Vol20_0255a.htm If you go over to the Lancer Forum and ask Ian Griggs, he might be able to tell you if Aday's father was on the police force. Ian is currently assembling a list of all 1,200 members of the force in 1963. Aday was born in Dallas and I seem to remember some discussion last year about him being at Parkland when Kennedy was brought in. Steve Thomas